THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


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UK3 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00039136719 


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ADDRESS 


BEFORE    THE 


ilumni  issociation  of  tlie  UniYersity 


OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 


By  JOHN  MANNING,  LL.  D., 


GREENSBORO,  N.   C: 
THOMAS,  REECE  &  CO.,  JOB  PRINTERS. 


ADDRESS 

BEFORE   THE 

ilun^ni  Association  of  the  University 

OF"  NORTH  <JA.-R<yT^nSfA. 


BY  JOHN  MANNING,  LL.  D. 


3fr.    President    ami     Gentlemen,    o{  memory.      ''•  Forsitan    et   haec 
Ahimni   of    the    Universii-y   of  olim  me  meminisse  juvabitr    Nor 

North  Carolina  : — •  -n    t         jj         4-1        u  r 

will    1     sadden    the    harmony    ot 

It    is  a   matter    for  hearty  con-   ^.i  •  n     4.-  u 

^  these  joyous   recollections    by  re- 

ffratulation  and  thankfulness  that  '  .•         -1  1  c    au 

^  counting    the    necrology    of    the 

so  many  of  us  have   been  permit-   ^     ,  ui         i  i 

-^  .         ^  past     year,    although     we     have 

ted  to  assemble  at  this  our  annual   r       ■  1      1  1  u        r    -i 

turnished  our  usual  number  01  pil- 

meeting.     It  is  fit  and  proper  that        ■„    4.     ^.u   4-  ..-  ui 

^  t"     t"  grims  to  that     innumerable  cara- 

we  should    give  to    the    precious  - 

memories  of  our    college  days  at 

least  one  day  in  the  year,  for  aside    ^'^  r"".^ "°  names;  instinctively  I  feel 

-'  •'         '  tacn  at   some    well-remembered    grave 

from    our  duty   to  our    venerable  will  kneel, 

Alma  Mater,  it    does  each  one  of  ^"^  f^om  the  inscription  wipe  the  weeds 

and  moss, 
US  good  to  exchange  our  friendly   For  every  heart  best   knoweth   its  own 
greetings,  to    warm    and    refresh  loss." 

our  hearts  by  the  recollections  of  But,  gentlemen,  if  these  friend- 
our  earlier  and  better  associations,'  ly  greetings  and  this  loving  recall 
and  to  withdraw  our  thoughts  of  the  past  be  the  sole  object  and 
from  the  well  trodden  highways  effect  of  this  re-union,  we  shall 
of  our  daily  business  and  callings  |  not  have  filled  the  measure  of  our 
to  let  them  wander  at  large  in  the  duty  nor  met  the  opportunities  of 
almost  forgotten    paths    of  youth   this  occasion. 

and  early  manhood.  To  some  of  From  every  re-union  of  the 
us  here,  as  to  your  speaker,  these  Alumni  of  the  University  some 
happy  thoughts,  these  bright :  practical  benefit  should  result  to 
memories,  are  in  the  far  IcJng  ago,  |  the  State,  to  the  cause  of  public 
but  their  memory  is  all  the  sweet-  education,  and  to  our  Alma  Mater. 
er  on  that  account,  and  each  year  It  is  true  the  University  is  a 
photographs  them  more  distinctly  State  institution,  controlled  en- 
and  in  fresher  colors  on  the  tablet   tirely  by  a  body  of  Trustees  elect- 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


ed  by  the  General  Assembly,  and 
our  association  is  not  a  legislative 
body,  nor  has  it  the  legal  power 
to  carry  out  its  suggestions,  but 
then  it  would  be  overstepping  the 
modesty  of  nature,  of  history  and 
of  facts,  if  it  did  not  claim  for  our 
Alumni  what  every  one  freely 
concedes — that  their  influence  is 
second  to  no  other  equal  number 
of  our  citizens.  Our  Alumni  have 
been,  are  now,  and  if  we  do  our 
duty  to  the  University,  will  al- 
ways be,  among  the  foremost 
leaders  of  public  opinion  and 
thought  in  the  State  and  the 
pioneers  in  every  good  work. 
From  our  ranks  have  gone  forth 
some  of  our  most  prominent 
statesmen,  farmers,  generals, 
lawyers,  teachers,  preachers,  mer- 
chants, manufacturers,  and  busi- 
ness men,  whose  wisdom,  thrift, 
learning  and  probity,have  brought 
both  honor  and  wealth  to  the 
State.  Such  statesmen  as  Man- 
gum,  Morehead,  Graham,  Cling- 
man,  Caldwell,  Vance  and  Ran- 
som. Such  generals  as  Pettigrew, 
Grimes,  Branch, Scales  and  Ander- 
son. Such  lawyers  as  Pearson, 
Battle,  Manly,  Moore,  Phillips, 
Ashe,  Ruffin,  Dick  and  Buxton. 
Such  tribunes  of  the  people  as 
Miller,  George  Davis,  Duncan 
K.  McRae,  Settle  and  Dock- 
ery.  Such  manufacturers  as  the 
Holts,  Carr,  Tate,  Morehead, 
the  Williamsons  and  Scott.  Such 
farmers  as  Smith,  Battle,  Camer- 


on, Holt,  S.  B.  Alexander  and 
Elias  Carr.  Such  teachers  as  the 
Hoopers,  Binghams,  Horners, 
Phillips,  Graves,  Winstons  and 
Lynch.  Such  business  men  as  R. 
S.  Tucker,  Bridgers,  Hawkins,  A. 
B.  Andrews,  De  Rossett  and 
David  Worth. 

Now  as  this  influence  must  be 
conceded,  there  comes  with  it 
a  correspondent  responsibility 
that  we  cannot  avoid  nor  evade. 
What  have  we  done  .''  What  are 
we  doing  to  promote  wholesome 
legislation  for  the  State,  for  public 
education  and  for  the  University.'' 

The  University  is  firmly  en- 
trenched by  the  Constitution,  and 
I  believe,  fully  as  firmly  by  the 
hearts  of  the  people  of  the  State, 
against  every  open  assault  that 
can  be  made  against  it. 

In  1776,  at  the  beginning  of 
that  momentous  struggle  against 
fearful  odds,  the  patriots  of  this 
revolution  anticipating,  it  would 
seem,  the  wants  of  the  present 
day,  and  realizing  then,  the  truth, 
that  in  the  matter  of  education, 
the  law  of  political  economy  that 
the  demand  precedes  the  supply, 
is  reversed  and  that  the  supply 
must  precede  the  demand,  declar- 
ed in  the  constitution,  that  "all 
useful  learning  should  be  duly 
encouraged  and  promoted  in  one 
or  more  Universities." 

In  17S9,  about  six  years  after 
the  close  of  a  seven  years'  war, 
filled  with  the  horrors,  adversities 


Address  before  the  Alummi  Association. 


5 


and  self-denials  of  that  terrific 
struggle,  when  they  began  with 
wise  fore-thought  and  courageous 
hearts  to  lay  broad  and  strong 
the  foundations  of  this  great 
commonwealth  they  proceeded 
as  far  as  their  impoverished  con- 
dition and  sparse  population 
would  permit,  without  delay  or 
misgiving  to  redeem  this  Consti- 
tutional pledge,  and  declared  that 
"in  all  well  regulated  govern- 
ments it  is  the  indispensable  duty 
of  every  Legislature  to  consult 
the  happiness  of  a  rising  genera- 
tion and  endeavor  to  fit  them  for 
an  honorable  discharge  of  the 
social  duties  of  life,  by  paying 
the  strictest  attention  to  their 
education,  and  whereas  an  Uni- 
versity, supported  by  permanent 
funds  and  well  endowed,  would 
have  the  most  direct  tendency  to 
answer  the  above  purpose,"  &c., 
&c.  Therefore  they  incorporated 
the  University  of  North  Carolina. 

The  Convention  of  1835  1^^^ 
the  requirement  of  the  University 
in  the  Constitution. 

The  Convention  of  1861  did 
the  same. 

The  Convention  of  1865  re-en- 
acted the  provision. 

The  Convention  of  1868  did 
the  same. 

The  people,  by  an  immense 
majority,  ratified  the  University 
by  separate  vote  in  1873,  and 
gave  the  management  to  the 
General  Assembly. 


The  Convention  of  1875  re-en- 
acted the  University  provisions, 
and  the  people  ratified  their  action 
in  1876. 

So  that  the  people  have  impos- 
ed it  on  the  General  Assembly, 
at  seven  different  epochs,  to 
support  and  maintain  the  Univer- 
sity, and  the  Constitution,  under 
wdiose  protecting  a^gis  we  now 
live,  bears  this  imperative  injunc- 
tion from  the  people  to  their 
representatives: 

Art.  IX,  Sec.  7.  "The  General  Assem- 
bly shall  provide  that  the  benefits  of  the 
University,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  ex- 
tended to  the  youth  of  the  State  free  of 
expense  for  tuition. 

So  that  the  University  does  not 
lack  the  sanction  either  of  the 
Constitution  or  of  the  people. 
Under  the  loving  care  of  the 
people  of  the  State  lead  by  these 
wise  master  builders,  much  more 
than  from  the  liberality  of  our 
General  Assembly,  the  University 
grew  in  the  lapse  of  nearly  a  cen- 
tury to  be  a  great  institution,  the 
nursing  mother  of  the  ingenuous 
youth  of  the  State  without  dis- 
tinction of  party  or  sect.  Em- 
bracing all  her  children  in  her 
great  catholic  heart,  she  has 
always  striven  to  allay  sectional 
feeling,  to  moderate  sectarian 
heat,  to  cultivate  and  encourage 
a  broad,  ardent  love  for  the  State, 
a  veneration  for  her  early  history 
and  traditions,  an  appreciation  of 
the  domestic  virtues  of  her  citizens, 
and  a  love  of  liberal  learning. 


6 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


From  1856  to  1861  were  her 
years  of  greatest  prosperity,  and 
the  catalogues  of  that  period 
show  an  average  of  about  four 
hundred  (400)  matriculates  for 
each  year;  and,  by  private  dona- 
tions and  the  savings  from  its 
large  fund  received  for  tuition,  she 
had  accumulated  a  good  endow- 
ment. The  State  had  given  the 
University  it  controls  and  man- 
ages, not  one  dollar  directly  from 
its  treasury,  except  an  inconsider- 
able sum  at  the  commencement, 
but  the  prosperous  condition  of  our 
citizens, the  want  of  similar  institu- 
tions south  of  us  from  our  own 
border  to  the  Rio  Grande,  fur- 
nished the  University  with 
sufficient  means  and  stiidents  to 
enable  it  to  make  vigorous  head- 
way and  to  place  it  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  educational  institu- 
tions of  the  country,  those  light- 
houses of  republican  liberty 
and  national  safet)'. 

In  1 86 1  came  the  war  between 
the  States.  I  will  not  lift  the 
curtain  which  time,  the  kindest  of 
friends,  has-  drawn  over  those 
dark  days  of  blood  and  nights  of 
anguish.  Sufficient  for  my  pur- 
pose to  say,  that  after  a  while  the 
dark  clouds  of  war  and  recon- 
struction drifted  away  before  the 
face  of  the  Sun  of  Peace;  but  the 
University  sat  "  mourning  for  her 
children  and  would  not  be  com- 
forted because  they  are  not,"  her 
endowment  was  gone,   her   halls 


were  desolate,  her  professors 
dead  or  scattered,  her  glory 
departed. 

In  the  beautiful  village  of  Chap- 
el Hill  where  it  seems  to  me  the 
trees  are  the  noblest,  the  leaves 
the  greenest,  the  sun  the  bright- 
est, and  the  air  the  softest,  where 
the  summer  loving  martlet  might 
make  her  perpetual  home,  the 
State  owned  $200,000  worth  of 
property,  libraries  containing 
25,000  volumes,  and  buildings  for 
the  accommodation  of  400  stu- 
dents. The  only  inhabitants  of 
these  magnificent  University 
buildings  were  the  portraits  of  the 
good  and  great  Carolinians  who 
from  their  niches  in  the  Society 
Halls  looked  mournfull}'  and 
reproachfully  upon  this  scene  of 
desolation.  All  was  "as  idle  as 
a  painted  ship  upon  a  painted 
ocean." 

In  1875  you,  gentlemen,  and 
other  friends  of  liberal  education 
in  the  State  came  to  the  rescue 
and  gave  to  the  University  $20,000. 
$15,000  of  this  sum  of  your  dona- 
tion was  spent  repairing  and 
putting  in  order  the  property  of 
the  State. 

The  Congress  of  the  United 
States  in  1862  gave  to  the  State 
of  North  Carolina  land  scrip  upon 
the  following  conditions: 

1st.  Sec.  4.  That  the  moneys  arising 
from  the  sale  of  the  scrip  and  interest 
shall  constitute  a  perpetual  fund,  the 
capital  of  which  shall  remain  forever 
undiminished,   and  the  interest  shall  be 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association 


inviolably  appropriated  to  the  purpose  of 
the  Act  *  *  to  the  maintenance  of  at 
least  one  college, where  the  leading  object 
shall  be  without  excluding  other  sci- 
entific and  classical  studies  to  teach  such 
branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  ag- 
riculture and  the  mechanic  arts. 

2nd.  Sec.  5.  If  any  portion  of  the  fund 
be  lost  or  diminished,  it  shall  be  replaced 
by  the  State,  and  the  annual  interest  shall 
be  applied  to  the  purposes  of  the  Act.  No 
portion  of  the  fund  shall  be  applied  to 
the  purchase,  erection,  preservation  or 
repair  of  any  buildings,  and  if  the  money 
is  riot  expended  for  the  purposes  of  this 
Act  it  shall  pay  the  same  back  to  the 
United  States. 

The  State  could  not  comply 
with  these  conditions  in  any  other 
way  than  by  giving  the  land  scrip 
to  the  Univ^ersity,  and  the  Gener- 
al Assembly  in  making  the  gift 
coupled  with  it  the  following  con- 
ditions: 

Acts  of  1866-7,  chap.  251.  To  comply 
with  the   Act  of  Congress  just  recited. 

To  establish  in  addition  to  the  reg- 
ular curriculum  of  the  University,  two 
professorships  in  which  the  leading  object 
shall  be,  without  excluding  other  scien- 
tific and  classical  studies,  to  teach  such 
branches  of  learning,  as  the  General  As- 
sembly may  prescribe, in  order  to  promote 
the  liberal  education  of  the  industrial 
classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  pro- 
fessions of  life.  I 

To  educate  free  of  expense  for  room 
rent  and  tuition  one  youth  from  each 
count)'. 

and  these  conditions  have  been 
carried  out  in  their  letter  and 
spirit. 

The  Board  of  Education  at 
that  time,  1866,  having  the  con- 
trol of  the  scrip,  sold  it  for 
$135,000,  and  a  subsequent  Board 
invested  $  125,000  of  the  proceeds 
as  follows:     $80,000  of  bonds,  not 


special  tax,  and  $160,000  of  spcial 
tax.  This  investment,  of  course, 
proved  a   total  loss. 

In  accepting  the  land  scrip 
from  the  United  States,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  North  Carolina 
agreed  to  pay  interest  on  the 
proceeds,  or  pay  back  to  the 
United  States  the  whole  amount. 
As  the  investment  had  been  lost, 
the  General  Assembly,  1874-5, 
C.  352,  according  to  the  terms  of 
the  trust,  issued  a  certificate  of 
indebtedness  to  the  University 
for  $125,000  and  pays  the  interest 
on  this  certificate  semi-annually. 
The  Trustees  of  the  University 
then  with  the  private  donation  of 
$20,000  before  alluded  to,  and 
the  $7,500  derived  from  the 
donation  of  the  United  States, 
in  1875,  elected  a  Faculty,  pre- 
scribed a  course  of  study  and 
opened  the  doors  of  the  Univer- 
sity to  the  youth  of  the  State. 

Their  success  has  been  greater 
than  the  most  sanguine  had  even 
dared  to  hope  for,  and  after  a 
close  observation  for  nearly  eight 
years  of  the  course  of  study,  the 
modes  of  instruction,  and  of  the 
morals  and  habits  of  the  students, 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  aver  that  no 
institution  in  this  land  of  colleges 
and  universities,  regard  being  had 
to  the  means  at  its  command,  is 
doing  better,  more  practical  and 
effective  work, than  is  our  Univer- 
sity. It  is  educating  free  of  charge 
for  tuition,  fifty-four  young  men. 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


It  furnishes  Bingham  with  two 
of  his  teachers;  it  has  given  Hor- 
ner an  accomplished  assistant,  to 
Lynch  a  teacher,  to  the  public 
schools  of  Wilmington,  a  superin- 
tendent, to  the  schools  at  Golds- 
boro,  Durham,  Fayetteville  New- 
bern,  Wilmington,  Raleigh,  Char- 
lotte, and  to  the  Graham  Normal 
College,  and  the  schools  of  other 
places,  forty-seven  teachers,  and 
now  the  President  of  the  Univer- 
sity has  applications  that  he 
cannot  fill.  To  the  agricultural 
department  of  the  State  it  has  given 
its  geologist,  mineralogist  and  two 
chemists,  to  the  mining  interest 
of  the  State  a  skilled  metallurgist, 
and  to  all  the  avocations  of  our 
citizens  a  goodly  number  of 
educated,  well  trained,  thought- 
ful, active,  successful  business 
men. 

At  no  period  of  its  history  has 
it  had  higher  claims  upon  its 
alumni,  upon  the  General  Assem- 
bly, or  upon  the  people  of  the 
State.  It  has  infused  a  new  life 
into  the  educational  work  of  the 
State.  Normal  and  graded  schools 
have  sprung  up  in  various  sections 
and  greater  advance  has  been 
made  in  the  work  of  the  public 
schools,  in  the  cause  of  popular 
education,  in  the  last  eight  years 
than  in  •  any  fifty  years  of  our 
previous  history. 

But  gentlemen,  the  University 
is  not  doing  the  work  it  ought  to 
do.     It  is  doing  all  it  can  with  the 


money  at  its  disposal — but  it  is 
cramped,  cribbed,  coffined  for 
want  of  means. 

In  i88i  the  General  Assembly 
appropriated  $5000  a  year  to  its 
support,  the  first  dollar  ever  given 
regularly  from  the  State  treasury. 
This  act  marks  an  era  of  whole- 
some advance  in  our  legislation. 
So  we  see, that  the  constitution  and 
repeated  acts  of  the  legislature 
have  declared  it  to  be  the  policy 
of  this  State  to  extend  to  the 
youth  of  North  Carolina  a  Uni- 
versity, as  well  as  a  common 
school  education,  "  free  of  expense 
for  tuition,"  and  that  the  principle 
of  State  aid  being  settled,  the 
only  queston  at  issue  now  is  as 
to  the  amount  to  be  appropriated 
from  the  public  funds,  and  when 
this  appropriation  shall  be  made. 
Now,  gentlemen,  it  v/ill  be  my 
object  to  show  that  the  act  of 
1 88 1  is  the  first  step  in  the  right 
direction,  and  that  it  should  be 
followed  at  an  early  day  by  a 
farther,  prudent  and  well  guarded 
advance  along  the  same  path,  and 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  this  associa- 
tion to  use  all  its  influence  to 
accomplish  this  long  looked  for, 
long  desired,  and  most  necessary 
result.  A  result  'demanded  by 
the  spirit  of  the  times,  by  the 
necessities  of  our  condition,  by 
the  very  law  of  our  existence  as 
a  state,  by  the  fearful  illiteracy  of 
our  people,  by  the  peril  with 
which  this  illiteracy  threatens  our 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


republican  institutions,  and  by  a 
wholesome  regard  to  our  material 
growth  and  to  our  position  and 
influence  among  our  sister  States. 

The  most  careless  observer  of 
the  current  of  the  public  thought 
of  the  day  cannot  help  noticing 
that  the  people, the  public  journals 
and  the  legislative  bodies  of  the 
various  States  and  of  the  Nation, 
are  considering  most  anxiously 
and  universally  three  questions, 
viz:  Public  education,  civil  service 
reform,  and  the  modes  for  raising 
revenue.  Solve  the  first  correct- 
ly and  the  solution  of  the  two 
others  follow  as  necessary  corol- 
laries, and  this  not  only  by  settling 
the  principles  which  are  to  con- 
trol legislation,  but  the  details  by 
which  the  practical  working  of 
V  these  principles  are  to  be  secured. 

Public  opinion  is  not  only  the 
supreme  law  but  it  is  the  tribunal 
of  the  last  resort  which  is  to 
interpret  and  execute  this  law. 
It  is  the  law-maker  and  at  the 
same  time  the  interpreter  of  all 
laws,  and  the  power  which,  at 
the  last  rights  all  wrongs,  makes 
all  laws,  settles  all  controversies 
is  manhood  suffrage.  ''Quid  leges 
sine  tnoribiis  vane  proficiunt"  has 
passed  into  an  axiom  in  this  coun- 
try. It  is  of  first  importance, 
then,  that  public  opinion  should 
not  only  be  honest,  but  intelli- 
gent. It  is  the  conviction, 
coupled  with  the  love  of  his  fel- 
lows, that  compelled   the    intelli- 


gent mind  and  loving  heart  of 
Peabody  to  consecrate  part  of  his 
fortune  to  the  education  of  the 
Southern  youth.  The  same  convic- 
tion has  built  Johns-Hopkins, Cor- 
nell, Vanderbilt  and  Packer  Uni- 
ersities.  The  same  conviction, 
coupled  with  an  intelligent  appre- 
ciation of  the  money  value  of 
education  as  an  investment,  and  as 
the  most  effective  agent  in  pro- 
moting the  material  prosperity  of 
a  commonwealth,  has  forced  into 
the  constitution  and  into  the  acts 
of  the  legislature  of  the  States, 
North,  South,  East  and  West  of 
us,  provisions  and  appropriations 
for  public  schools  and  universities. 
No  where  do  you  find  these  two, 
public  schools  and  universities, 
dissociated  or  antagonistic. 

What  appropriations  do  other 
States  make  .'' 

Other  States  make  appropria- 
tions to  higher  education  as  fol- 
lows : 

Virginia — annually— University, $30.00000 

Militarj'  Institute  .    ,  .  15,00000 

Agricultural     College,  20,000  00 

Hampton  School  (col),  10  000  00 

Also  to  relieve  the  Military  Institute  of  debt 

paid  annually  since  1876 10,00000 

Total,  ....••■..••■..  #85,00000 
South  Carolina  appropriates  annually,  .  .  .  #30,000  00 
Missouri  "  "...    51,75000 

Maryland  "  "...    53.890  00 

Louisiana  "  "...    30,000  00 

New  York  "  "         .   .    .319,00000 

Kansas  "  "         .   .        33,00000 

California  "  "...  170,00000 

Geoigia  "  "...    29,000  co 

Mississippi  ''  "...    45,000  00 

Colorado  "  "...    45,00000 

Nebraska  "  "...    38,00000 

Minnesota  "  "        .    .    .*73,ooooo 

Wisconsin  "  "         ...    68,000  00 

Iowa  "  <<         .    .   .    62,000  00 

Kentucky  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege has  #17,000  annually  from  the  State. 
Its  income  (excluding  tuition)  is  #27,000. 
It  receives   one  student  free  from  each 


county  • 


10 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


Georgia  University  has  an  income   of  $17,914 

(exclusive  of  tuition) 17,91400 

Tennessee  Agricultural  College  fund  amounts 

to  $24,210,  which  goes  to  the  University.  24,21000 
Maryland  Agricultural  College  has.income  of  ti3,5oo  00 
Alabama  "  "  "         "       f24,ooo  00 

Kansas  **  "  **         "       f20,ooo  00 

Michigan  _     :'  "  "         "      135,00000 

*And  repairs.     fTuition  free. 

And  now  the  President  of  the 
United  States  and  the  executives 
and  legislatures  of  the  several 
States,  our  own  included,  are 
knocking  loudly  at  the  doors  of 
Congress,  demanding  appropria- 
tions from  the  U.  S.  treasury 
for  public  education. 

In  the  States  of  the  North 
and  North-west,  these  large  ap- 
propriations from  the  public  treas- 
ury are  supplemented  by  the 
most  munificent  private  dona- 
tions, and  yet  the  demand  is  for 
more  money.  So  far  as  we  are 
concerned,  it  is  impossible  for  us 
to  go  along  as  we  have  been  do- 
ing. As  you  see  by  the  imper- 
fect list  I  have  just  called  over  in 
your  presence,  the  States  all 
around  us  are  supporting  and 
making  their  Universities  first- 
class  institutions  and  opening 
them  free  of  expense  for  tuition 
to  their  own  youth,  and  thus,  by 
keeping  their  young  men  within 
their  own  borders,  they  have  di- 
verted from  our  University  this 
rich  source  of  income  in  bygone 
days.  The  University  must  rely 
altogether  now  on  three  sources 
for  support  and  growth  :  ist 
State  aid;  2nd  private  donation; 
3rd  receipts  for  tuition. 

Private    donations    cannot    be 


reckoned  upon:  ist,  because  our 
people  are  too  poor;  but  2nd  and 
principally  because  our  rich  men 
have  not  formed  the  habit  of 
giving  to  public  institutions  of 
this  character,  and  are  lacking  in 
public  spirit.  The  only  donations 
of  money  since  1875  have  been 
from  Dr.  Deems,  W.  H.  Vander- 
bilt  and  B.  F.  Moore  Honor  to 
whom  honor  is  due. 

The  next  source,  receipts  from 
tuition,  is  alike  uncertain  and 
insufficient. 

No  college  is  doing  or  can  do 
its  work  without  an  endowment 
or  appropriations  from  the  public 
treasury.  The  Universities  of 
Harvard,  Yale,  Cornell,  Vander- 
bilt,  Johns-Hopkins,  of  Michigan, 
Virginia,  and  all  the  other  lead- 
ing colleges  with  their  hundreds 
0/  students,  could  not  live  without 
endowments  or  annual  appropria- 
tions. How  then  can  it  be  done  in 
North  Carolina  where  there  are  not 
to-day  at  all  our  colleges  seven 
hundred  students,  and  these  divid- 
ed among  four  institutions.-' 

The  only  source  then  left  to 
the  University  is  State  aid. 
Should  this  be  given. ^  I  answer 
yes.  1st,  because  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  State  to  educate  its  citizens, 
and  all  of  its  citizens.  Who  else 
can  or  will,  do  the  work,  or  if 
some  other  person  or  number  of 
persons  can  be  found  to  do  it, 
would  the  State  be  justifiable  in 
surrendering  this  work  to  another.'' 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


II 


Shall  the  church  be  the  sole 
educator  in  the  higher  branches 
of  educations  ? 

Now  I  have  as  great  reverence 
for  the  church  and  its  ministry  as 
any  man  living.  I  regard  the  one 
as  the  body  of  Christ,  and  the 
other  as  men  called  of  God  to 
instruct  and  lead  us  in  the  way  of 
righteousness,  and  yet  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  church  ought  not  \ 
to  be  allowed  by  the  State  to  do 
this  work. 

1st.  Because    if    left    to    it,    it 
will    not    be    done,    it    has    not 
the  means.     The  various  denom-  ] 
inations  of  the   Christian   church  \ 
will  not  unite  to  do  this  work,  and  j 
no    one    has    sufficient  means    or  I 
following  to  establish  and  main-  \ 
tain    a    University.     The    result 
will  be  an  attempt  to  keep  up  as 
many  colleges  as   there    are   de- 
nominations, and  consequently  a 
failure. 

2nd.  It  is  wrong  in  principle. 
Turn  this  work  over  to  the  vari- 
ous Christian  denominations,  and 
the  result  would  be  disastrous  to 
both  the  cause  of  religion  and  of 
education.  How  long  would  it 
be  before  the  demand  would  come 
up  that  the  school  fund  and  the 
schools  should  be  apportioned 
among  them  according  to  their 
respective  numbers  ?  What  is 
this  but  the  demand  now  made 
by  the  Catholic  church  for  its 
share  of  the  school  funds  in  New 
York;  and  then  how  long  before 


the  offices  of  the  State  would  be 
distributed  among  them  accord- 
ing to  their  estimated  numbers, 
religious  creed,  not  fitness,  be  the 
test  of  qualification  for  office,  and 
finally  a  most  unnatural  union 
between  Church  and  State,  ce- 
mented, and  men  proscribed,  and 
excluded  from  participation  in 
public  affairs,  because  of  religious 
belief.''  Besides  it  will  not  stop 
here,  it  will  enter  into  all  branch- 
es of  trade  and  industry.  Mer- 
chants, mechanics,  lawyers,  phy- 
sicians and  schools  will  be  patron- 
ized according  to  their  church 
affiliations.  God  help  a  land  to 
such  ills  a  prey.  Men  can  no 
longer  be  hanged  or  quartered 
for  religious  opinions,  but  they 
can  be  starved  and  disfranchised. 
In  North  Carolina,  thus  far  we 
have  happily  escaped  these  evils, 
and  I  feel  well  assured  that 
to  secure  further  exemption  it  is 
only  necessary  to  direct  public 
attention  to  this  matter. 

The  State  is  interested  in  the 
welfare  of  all  her  citizens.  She 
knows  no  rank  of  high  or  low 
degree,  no  sect,  no  party.  All 
are  her  children  and  all  alike  her 
care. 

2nd.  A  University  is  a  necessi- 
ty for  carrying  out  our  public 
school  system.  The  Superinten- 
dent of  Public  Instruction  and 
the  Governor  both  tell  us  that 
there  are  490,000  children  within 
the  school  age  in  the  State.  Who 


12 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


is  to  furnish  the  teachers  for  this 
good  army  ?  They  will  be  had, 
must  be  had.  Shall  we  import 
them  and  with  them  a  great  many 
other  things  that  we  do  not  want 
and  ought  not  to  have  ?  Shall 
our  children  be  taught  to  love 
their  State,  cherish  its  institutions, 
to  venerate  the  deeds  and  civili- 
zation of  their  ancestors,  and  to 
perpetuate  what  is  wholesome 
and  good  in  our  laws  and  cus- 
toms,or  shall  they  be  taught  to 
look  upon  their  fathers  and  moth- 
ers,as  little  better  than  barbarians, 
our  whole  social  atmosphere  as 
full  of  nauseous  vipers  generating 
assassins  and  street  murderers. 

Gentlemen,  the  first  requisite 
for  an  efficient  public  school  sys- 
tem is  competent  teachers. 
Where  are  they  1^  come  from.' 
from  the  North  or  within  our  own 
borders  ?  We  must  have  a  train- 
ing school  for  teachers. 

3rd.  It  will  pay  as  an  invest- 
ment. 

Young  men  who  are  thirsty  for 
knowledge,  who  want  to  know 
something  more  of  the  world  be- 
neath, above  and  around  us,  and 
who  wish  to  promote  the  happi- 
ness, and  well-being  of  their 
fellows,  can  and  must,  if  they  have 
the  means,  go  beyond  the  limits 
of  our  State  and  drink  at  other 
fountains;  while  the  great  mass, 
not  able  to  go  abroad,  will  find 
the  struggle  against  adverse  for- 
tune too    sharp  and    cutting,  and 


sink  back  into  poverty  and  dis- 
content, and  it  is  this  class,  the 
poor  youth  for  whom  we  must 
provide.  Shall  the  poor  man's 
son  have  no  opportunity  to  drink 
at  the  fountain  of  learning.-' 

Since  the  reorganization  of  the 
University  it  has  saved  by  educat- 
ing our  boys  at  home  $75,000  or 
$100,000  annually.  Examine  the 
catalogue  of  the  Universities  of 
our  sister  States  since  1875,  and 
you  will  see  that  the  number  of 
our  young  men  educated  abroad 
is  very  small  compared  to  what 
it  was  ten  years  ago,  and  this 
money  is  all  saved  to  this  State, 
because  spent  within  our  borders. 

But,  gentlemen,  when  we  look 
at  the  frightful  statistics  of  the 
illiteracy  of  this  State  as  they 
appear  in  the  census  tables  of 
1880,  who  can  estimate  what 
would  be  the  gain  to  our  State  if 
only  one-half  of  this  large  number 
could  be  educated  and  enlighten- 
ed, and  who  does  not  stand  ap- 
palled by  this  dark  cloud  as  it 
stretches  its  lengthening  shadow 
over  every  interest  of  the  State. 

The  figures, gentlemen,  are  not 
flattering  to  us  but  truth  requires 
that  I  should  give  them. 

Of  our  white  population  22. 14  are  illiterate 

"     colored  "         51.07     "        " 

of  white  voters  58.218 

of  colored  "  87.076. 

To  the  patriot,  to  the  philan- 
thropist, to  the  property  owner, 
what  horrible  forebodings  against 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


13 


the  peace  and  good  order  of  our 
society,  against  the  security  of 
private  property,  and  the  orderly 
administration  of  public  justice 
do  those  fearful  figures  evoke. 

"  Education  is  a  civil  as  well  as 
a  parental  duty.  It  is  the  essence 
of  true  manhood.  By  no  other 
means  can  man  make  the  best  of 
himself  and  fulfill  all  his  obliga- 
tions. It  is  his  inalienable  birth 
right.  Maximum  education  makes 
minimum  government  possible 
and  secures  Maximum  liberty." 

Republican  institutions  cannot 
stand  without  the  support  of  an 
educated  constituency.  Liberty 
cannot  exist  without  intelligence. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  will  not  dwell 
any  longer  oh  this  part  of  my  sub- 
ject, for  the  evils  of  illiteracy  and 
the  need  and  wants  of  the  South 
in  this  respect  have  been  in  the 
last  few  days  so  eloquently  and 
fearlessly  portrayed  in  this  Hall 
by  that  distinguished  philanthrop- 
ist and  orator,  Dr. Curry, that  I  can 
not  attempt  to  gild  the  refined  gold 
of  his  thoughts  and  words,  but  I  will 
make  this  apology  for  my  seeming 
temerity  in  saying  even  this  much, 
that  when  I  accepted  your  invita- 
tion to  address  you  to-night  I  did 
not  know  that  I  should  have  to 
follow  that  distinguished  gentle- 
man. 

The  advantages  of  an  education 
are  always  appreciated  by  a  people 
in  proportion  as  they  enjoy  them. 
In  communities  where    education 


is  most  needed,  it  is  least  appre- 
ciated, and  in  addition  to  this 
natural  obstacle,  the  educational 
problem  at  the  South  is  compli- 
cated with  that  other  problem  of 
race  difference,  which  forces  us  to 
double  every  dollar  we  have  to 
expend  for  most  public  purposes, 
and  it  is  unjust  to  the  people  of 
this  State  to  say  that  they  have 
not  exerted  themselves  since  the 
surrender,  in  the  work  of  educa- 
tion, for  they  have  done  and  are 
doing  well,  much  better  than 
might  have  been  expected  under 
the  circumstances,  and  much 
more  than  many  States  who  have 
been  so  ready  to  find  fault  with 
them.  To  tell  us  of  the  illiteracy 
of  the  blacks  is  simply  to  say  that 
we  have  had  negro  slavery.  Peo- 
ples not  similarly  situated  can 
neither  understand  nor  appreciate 
the  troubles  that  beset  this  ques- 
tion, but,  gentlemen,  we  know, 
we  appreciate  them  and  we  alone 
must  solve  the  problem  and  work 
out  our  own  deliverance. 

The  illiteracy  of  the  South  is  a 
standing  menace  to  our  institu- 
tions and  we  must  do  our  best  to 
remove  it,  or  an  alien  power  will 
intervene  to  our  injury  and  to  our 
mortification.  If  we  refuse  to 
look  after  the  education  of  our 
whole  people,  the  portion  we  neg- 
lect will  by  this  be  forced  into 
undue  prominence  before  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  and 
the    treasures    of    the    North    be 


H 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


expended  for  their  use  and  we 
left  with  our  limited  means,  and 
under  many  disadvantages,  to 
work  out  unaided  the  great  prob- 
lem of  the  education  of  our 
white  children. 

I  know  our  people  think  it  hard 
to  pay  taxes  to  educate  another 
race,  and  they  are  getting  restless 
under  the  tax,  but  we  must  do  it, 
or  a  greater  evil  coupled  with 
shame  awaits  us.  Now  so  far  as 
the  University  is  concerned  this 
race  question  is  out  of  the  way, 
it  cannot  trouble  us. 

Again  in  educational  matters, 
men  of  thought  and  of  education 
must  take  the  lead,  and  the  invita- 
tion should  always  be  to  the  un- 
educated classes,  come  up  higher  ? 
Inducements  must  be  offered.  Men 
must  be  invited  to  educate  their 
sons,  and  the  means  must  be  put 
within  easy  reach.  There  is  no 
such  thing  as  perpetual  motion  in 
education.  Now,  gentlemen,  I 
propose  to  go  back  to  the  theories 
and  principles    of  our  forefathers. 

The  men  of  the  South  in  the 
past  have  always  thought  broadly 
and  planned  grandly,  but  they 
have  failed  to  execute  their  grand 
ideas.  They  were  giants  in 
thought,  but   babes  in    execution. 

Now  we  are  entering  upon  a 
new  era  of  action,  and  we  must 
carry  out  practically  the  concep- 
tions of  our  fathers,  or  we  must 
fall  behind  in  population,  in 
wealth,    in    public    spirit,   and   in 


everything  that   makes  a   people 
great,  happy  and  self-reliant. 

In  North  Carolina,  Georgia  and 
Texas,  during  the  last  ten  years  a 
new  impulse  has  been  given  to 
educational  work,  and  as  a  con- 
sequence these  States  are  the 
only  States  throughout  the  entire 
South  that  have  increased  in 
wealth  in  the  last  decade. 

In  Texas  and  Georgia  tuition 
at  their  Universities  is  free  and 
in  North  Carolina  partially  so. 

While  this  is  an  era  of  unusual 
activity  in  thought,  trade  and 
commerce,  it  is  at  the  same  time 
eminently  materialistic,  every- 
thing is  valued  according  to  the 
way  it  pours  out  (as  we  say)  gold. 
This  is  one  of  the  perils  of  the 
day,  but  for  all  this  we  must  enter 
the  arena  and  take  our  part  in  the 
struggle,  but  let  us  take  care  that 
while  we  use  the  material  world 
it  does  not  drive  from  our  thoughts 
and  from  our  system  of  education 
the  immaterial  and  the  spiritual 
and  strand  our  people  upon  the 
frozen  shores  of  infidelity  and 
scepticism.  There  is  a  terrible 
dualism  in  man,  an  angel  has  him 
by  the  hand,  a  serpent  by  the 
heart. 

Now,  gentlemen,  what  is  the 
most  efficient  agent  for  cor  ectly 
educating  the  people  .-*  I  answer 
in  the  words  of  the  Act  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1789:  "A 
University  supported  by  public 
funds  and  well    endowed    would 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


15 


have  the  most  direct  tendency  to 
accomplish  this  purpose," 

1st.  Because,  as  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  show,  it  is  the  civil  duty 
of  the  State  to  educate  all  classes 
of  her  citizens. 

2nd.  Because  as  an  investment 
it  pays. 

3rd.  Because  a  University  can- 
not be  supported  otherwise. 

4th.  The  States  all  around  us 
have  adopted  the  plan  of  Univer- 
sity education  free  of  expense  for 
tuition,  and  what  commends  itself 
to  the  judgment  of  our  sister 
States  must  call  for  like  action  on 
our  part,  as  we  have  a  common 
hope,  a  common  destin}-,  and 
common  perils. 

5th.  Because  otherwise  the  pub- 
lic schools  must  languish  for  want 
of  competent  teachers. 

6th.  Because  in  educational 
matters  there  must  be  a  head  to 
give  direction,  impulse  to  the 
work  and  to  excite  a  desire 
among  the  people  for  more  light, 
more  knowledge,  and  a  higher 
appreciation  of  the  inestimable 
benefits  of  education.  Fill  the 
University  with  students  and  you 
crowd  all  our  colleges. 

This  has  been  demonstrated. 
Since  the  re-organization  of  the 
University  in  1875  all  our  colleges 
have  increased  in  numbers  and 
there  can  be  no  antagonism  be- 
tween them. 

The  denominational  colleges 
cannot    complain    of   the    State's 


opening  the  doors  of  the  Univer- 
sity free  of  expense  for  tuition  to 
the  youth  of  the  State,  but  the 
particular  friends  of  these  institu- 
tions will  be  stimulated  to  endow 
these  colleges  so  that  their  use- 
fulness may  be  increased  by 
offering  the  same  facilities,  and 
thus  the  means  of  higher  educa- 
tion  put  within  the   reach   of  all. 

Certainly  these  institutions 
ought  not  and  will  not  stand  in 
the  way  of  public  education. 

In  our  Federal  government  the 
State  is  the  unit,  and  each  State 
has  an  individuality,  produced  by 
difference  of  settlement,  climate, 
avocation, population, and  interest, 
which  it  is  best  that  it  should  main- 
tain as  one  bulwark  against  con- 
solidation. But  each  State  should 
attempt  to  fuse  its  people.  What 
would  tend  more  to  break  down 
the  distinctions  of  class,  to  dig- 
nify labor,  to  bridge  the  chasm 
between  labor  and  capital,  to 
efface  the  suspicion  and  jealousy 
with  which  the  poor  regard  the 
rich,  than  to  have  all  classes 
associated  in  the  friendl}'  daily 
intercourse  of  college  life,  where 
there  is  no  aristocracy  but  that  of 
mind,  no  wealth  but  the  love  of 
letters,  no  titles  of  nobility  but 
those  worn  by  the  successful 
scholar,  when  the  son  of  the  me- 
chanic may  put  the  farmer's  boy  to 
his  mettle,  and  both  tread  upon  the 
heels  of  the  rich  man's  son  who 
lags  in  the  race.'' 


i6 


Address  before  the  Alumni  Association. 


The  University  is  doing  much 
of  this  good  work  now,  and  the 
boys  from  what  are  called  the 
humbler  walks  of  life,  are  pushing 
aside  the  sons  of  fortune  and 
carrying  off  the  honors  of  the 
institution. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Alumni,  see 
to  it  that  at  no  distant  day  the 
University  has  all  the  money  it 
needs,  to  teach  the  farmers  of  the 
State  how  best  to  till  its  lands, 
the  mechanic  how  best  to  use  its 
wood  and  stone,  the  manufacturer 
how  best  to  spin  its  cotton,  the 
rail  road  man  how  best  to  make 
his  bridges,  grades  and  curves, 
and  all  of  our  citizens  how  to 
make  the  best  of  themselves  and 
fulfill  all  their  obligations  to  the 
State.  See  to  it  that  its  doors 
shall  be  opened  to  the  youth  of 
the  State  free  of  expense  for 
tuition.  This  can  be  done  with- 
out increasing  appreciately  the 
present  rate  of  taxation. 

Gentlemen,  let  it  be  your 
pleasure  as  it  is  your  duty,  to  see 
that  a  gymnasium  is  erected  at 
the  University,  where  the  phy- 
sique of  our  young  may  be  culti- 
vated, their  bodies  developed  as 
the  perfection  of  manhood  be 
well    as    their    minds    and     thus 


reached — "  mens    sana  in  cor  pore 
sano." 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  have  done. 
I  have  spoken  earnestly,  because 
I  feel  deeply;  I  have  spoken 
plainly,  because  I  thought  plain 
words  were  best;  I  trust  I  have 
offended  no  one.  If  I  have,  I  beg 
that  he  will  remember  that  I  am 
a  native  of  this  State,  born  in  the  \ 
little  town  of  Edenton,  that  rests  \ 
upon  the  white  waters  of  the 
Albemarle  as  an  emerald  in  its 
setting  of  silver,  that  I  am  an 
alumnus  of  the  University,  loyal 
to  its  past  and  hopeful  of  its 
future,  that  I  have  been  honored 
by  the  people  of  the  State  far 
beyond  my  deserts,  that  I  love 
the  people  of  my  native  State, 
that  I  have  shared  their  griefs 
and  sorrows  and  hope  to  share 
their  joys  and  glory.  I  love  every 
inch  of  North  Carolina  soil,  from 
where  our  ocean  Bluebeard  locks 
within  his  sandy  prisons  the  white 
clad  brides  of  the  sea,  to  where 
the  Grandfather  and  Black  moun- 
tains keep  their  silent,  tireless 
watches  over  the  "land  of  the  sky." 

May  our  Heavenly  Father 
shower  His  richest  blessings  upon 
the  State,  upon  the  University, 
and  upon  each  of  you. 


